THE AMINTA DRESS





"No dreams within her heart but dreams of love......"



A dress inspired by the Spanish Flamenco dance and folk costumes, but also by 18th century fashion. The bodice being closed over the bust as a Pierrot jacket, displaying another bodice or corset underneath, the flounced pagoda sleeves, and of course the little white linen apron. Sadly, only few costumes includes the little apron (I've seen in in England, Spain, Denmark and Germany).

The general costume consists of a dress with a corseted bodice with a stomacher in front. The stomacher is decorated with colourful floral appliqués. The neck opening is emphasized by either a scarf with nice fringes, or embroidery or fringes on their own. The sleeves are elbow length and flounced; with peach embroidered silk over white, black and/or gold lace. The skirt is made of several rows of embroidered flounces. The skirt is front split, to reveal a golden/black lace "underskirt". Underneath there's a black netting skirt, to give the dress a nice bell shape.

The original dress used By Sarah Brightman in both West End and Broadway had real laces on the flounced layers, but most later versions has had embroideries instead. This gives a lighter look, and in my opinion both versions work well. The dress use a peachy pink silk dupioni, and the embroidery is mostly chain stitch. The US dresses has netting layers peeking out under the embroideried layers, I'm guessing as an extra "fluffing" effect, but also to emphasize the layers. The costume also includes an embroideried shawl plus black, high-heeled boots.

Only some productions add the red rose Maria Bjørnson drew in Christine's curly hair. The original Australian production and tour had it, and recently it reappeared in Argentina.




Visit this site to see a picture gallery showing different versions of the Aminta costume